Diabetes teams are being urged to complete a survey about the UK’s diabetes consultants before the February deadline.

The Diabetes Workforce Audit aims to find out where Britain’s diabetes and endocrine consultants work and the type of job plan they have. It closes on Friday, February 21, 2020.

The data will be used to inform workforce planning for the future and also highlights where there are current gaps, what consultants do on a daily basis, the proportion of their time they spend on general medicine, specialty work, education and management.

There is also a push to get more responses from consultants in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure a wider representation.

Organiser Dr Stella George, who is a consultant in diabetes and endocrinology at East & North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, said: “The consultants on the database will be sent an email inviting them to answer the survey. The email will have their own individual link in it – which they mustn’t share – if they have colleagues who have not received a link – they need to contact me at stellageorge@nhs.net so that I can send them their own. If they know they didn’t receive one last year they can contact me even before the survey opens and I can get them added to the database ready for launch.

“We know 600 consultants have opened the survey and may have made a start on it – but we need them to complete it. If they find it difficult to answer some of the questions because of their specific job plans, then approximations are fine and they can leave comments if needed- we would rather have some data than none at all!”

Previously a paper survey was sent to all identified consultants, asking demographic questions, details about their job plan and if any new colleagues have joined their department. This has enabled the ability to track new appointees and any consultants that have moved trusts. Now the online version will make it easier to disseminate the questions.

The data collection will continue to be performed using the existing infrastructure available at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) workforce unit, allowing a quick transfer of the survey onto an online platform.